A Tale of Two Toms: Michael Esper on Playing the Same Glass Menagerie Role as Joe Mantello

Director/performer Joe Mantello helmed Sting's The Last Ship, which starred stage fave Michael Esper in 2014. Now, the two are taking on the role of Tom Wingfield in Tennessee Williams' heartbreaking The Glass Menagerie in New York and London, respectively. Mantello returns to the Broadway stage in the production, which stars Sally Field and opens on March 9, while Esper opened opposite Cherry Jones in John Tiffany's London production on February 2. In an upcoming Broadway.com Q&A with Esper, our London correspondent Matt Wolf asked him what it's like having his former director take on the same role across the pond.

"I'll tell you, I love Joe so much and loved working with him as a director. He's also a f**king astonishing actor—a real artist," Esper said. "We got together over the summer to talk about this part, which is something you just never get to do as an actor where you're normally working in isolation. To get to talk to another actor who's working on the same material, especially one I admire as much as I admire Joe, was something else. He's going to be so remarkable in that part. I wouldn't miss it for the world."

Stay tuned for Esper's London Q&A, and be sure to experience Tennessee Williams' classic memory play The Glass Menagerie, whether you live in the United States or the United Kingdom.